Monday, Oct. 1, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina's redrawn state house and congressional maps are being allowed to stand.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday summarily affirmed a federal court's ruling that South Carolina's new lines are fair and don't discriminate.

Six black voters sued, claiming the GOP-dominated state Legislature drew lines that segregate white and black voters into election districts and pack black voters into one congressional district. They called it "voting apartheid."

But a federal panel says plaintiffs provided no convincing evidence that legislators drew the lines to dilute the voting power of blacks.

An attorney for voters who sued and a spokesman for state House Speaker Bobby Harrell didn't immediately comment on the decision.

Redistricting is a once-a-decade process to ensure political district lines reflect population changes as shown by the U.S. Census.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)